GUNS Magazine December 2011 Digital Edition - Page 18

• h O L t B O D I N S O N • BASERRI ShOtGUNS “Tested for strength —admired for beauty.” hat’s what baserri is saying about their new line of T O/us. The Italians have a way, you know—a way—with fine shotguns. The baserri’s are just beginning to be more visible on the range and in the field as the dealership network expands. It’s a well-designed line with some excellent and unusual engineering features plus it’s priced to be very competitive with other quality stackbarrels. before you buy the next browning, beretta, skb or weatherby, baserri’s Mari hunting and the Mari elite sporting clays model are worth considering. The Italians in Brescia and the American owners of Baserri, Alan Thompson and Wayne Rodrigue, also have a way with words. According to their literature, the word “baserri” stands for “a rustic European country home—smart in design, built to last for generations and a beautiful part of the environment.” I think we would call it a classic hunting lodge. The name “Mari” refers to the Goddess of Thunder—“known as being strong in spirit, powerful in action, very beautiful to behold and a bit noisy.” Now putting “Baserri” and “Mari” together, we have something like a strong, well-built, beautiful and thunderous shotgun. The Baserri Mari’s are indeed that. In most ways, the Mari Hunter and the Mari Elite follow the traditional form and function of an O/U. Both are ejector, box locks. To holt, steamer and the lightweight baserri hunter patiently awaiting opening day. baserri’s “hyperbolic” choke tubes are designed to minimize shot deformation and deliver denser patterns. keep the weight down to 6.2 pounds on a field gun, the receiver of the 12-, 20- or 28-gauge Mari is made of aluminum coated with titanium while the sporting clays version, the 12-gauge Mari Elite, sports a solid steel, silver nitrite finished receiver, accented with false sideplates and tips the scales at a little over 8 pounds. Both models sport a single, selective trigger. The Hunter has an automatic safety while the safety of the Elite must be manually applied. The barrel selector switch is incorporated into both safeties The Mari receivers are laser engraved. The pattern on the Mari Hunter is simple and crisp. The full coverage on the Mari Elite is so lavish, detailed and well executed that I had to use a magnifying glass briefly to convince myself that the hands of a skilled engraver hadn’t played a role, the baserri elite: “tested for strength—admired for beauty.’’ heavier at 8+ pounds as befits its role as a sporting clays gun, the elite is also quite a looker, too. the elite incorporates a full-palm swell on the right side of the grip. 18 WWW.GUNSMAGAZINE.COM • DECEMBER 2011